Stay on Christ’s Mission

Jacob Winters

1 Tim • Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

1 Timothy 4:1–16

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Stay on Christ’s Mission

1 Tim 4:1-16

LaFayette Baptist Church

06/16/2024

By: Jacob Winters

Introduction

Scripture

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

4 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. 3 They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 since it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.

6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed. 7 But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. 8 For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. 10 For this reason we labor and strive,[a] because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love,[b] in faith, and in purity. 13 Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. 14 Don’t neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. 15 Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Context

This week, we are turning our attention back to the 1st letter of Paul to his protege Timothy. This letter of course, was intended for the use of and hearing of it to more then just Timothy, meaning that this was not merely a private correspondence as most letters are. Rather, this letter was (on top of it being read by Timothy) was to be read out loud to the congregation in Ephesus as well as other any other congregation that could get their hands on a copy of this letter. So, this letter wasn’t to just one person. Rather, it is from one person to many people, especially to Timothy, the elders in Ephesus and the Christian brothers and sisters in the congregation in Ephesus.

As we look at this week’s text, you tell that this had an big air of it being specifically to Timothy and the elders in this church. We might say today, the senior pastor and other pastors/elders were to pay particularly close attention here to the benefit of the entire congregation. As you will recall, this church was ravaged by false teaching, deceivers, authority stealers, and people who had been led astray by bad doctrine and useless things for the faith. This is a situation that all churches throughout all of history have to watch for, have to be on guard against, have to be ready to stand against, because ultimately it is an attack from the enemy on the bride of Christ and all those within it. Meaning, you believer if you want to know God, love God more, both personally and collectively as a church. You have to make sure you have the “main thing” right. That main thing, is of course Christ and His will in your life and our congregation as a whole. You can do this, by both expecting an attack from the enemy and being ready for it, because The enemy wants you to not have Christ and His mission as the “main thing.”

So, let’s look at what Paul has prescribed for the church to stand against the enemy (Satan) and his deceptions that are aimed at keeping us off of task. So, let’s jump in andFrom the text, I want you to see and do these actions, so that you can stay on Christ’s Mission.

Message

The first action to see and do is to: Know The Enemy (1-5)

Paul begins with a clear reminder given to us from God the Holy Spirit, we have seen this reminder and statement multiple times in scripture. This is that in the Later Times, meaning after Jesus ascension back to heaven and before he comes back, which means the time and era that they were living in then and we are living in now; in these times people will depart from the faith. Instead of holding close and dear the teaching of Christ and their savior, instead they will succumb to lies fed to them. Paul outright says, these false teachings about Christ, about spirituality, about any spiritual “truth” that is not revealed in scripture is demonic, it is evil; and comes from the enemy. This is not a new thing in our world, in fact Paul goes so far as to list a few of the false things that was being fed to the Ephesian church, in their case it was a demand for abstinence or not taking/eating certain kinds of foods. What were they doing, adding on things that were simply not true and saying it was a requirement. Look at what Paul says, he says that’s not how this works! It’s not about that it all! What matters is in what manner you are partaking, are you grateful for it, and do you recognize that it is a gift of nourishment from God and are you in turn thanking Him for it. What matters is that a good created something good and any evil that it may have actually exists in and from our world of sin, but it can be redeemed for nourishing through our prayers to God.

This week in VBS, we learned a lot of crucial lessons. In fact, on the first day, we learned about how our enemy Satan in the Garden of Eden deceived our earliest ancestors Adam and Eve into questioning and ultimately rebelling against God. What Satan did to them and what demonic influences are doing to the Ephesian church and churches and believers all throughout human history is a common tactic that we have to be on the watch for. They want to deceive you, by either adding something onto God, onto God’s Word, His Commandments, and Will in your life. The enemy wants you to focus on the wrong thing. What’s worse, is he specializes in making something wrong seem right, because it seems “churchy” or “religious” while in fact, all it does is distract us from Christ and His Mission that He has left for us.

One of the worst ways Satan does this is by sending in false teachers and false believers into the church, who whether they know it or not, are agents of the enemy. What’s even worse and damaging, is when these agents of enemy get put into leadership and teaching roles within the church, listen to what the apostle John wrote in his first letter on this topic and these false believers he said, “18 Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.” Can you imagine that, Satan’s agents making decisions and teaching within the bride of Christ, unfortunately, it happens every day and it is one of the most used tools in his tool belt for deceiving and lying to us. So remember, The enemy wants you to not have Christ and His mission as the “main thing.” So, know that weapons are deception and lies and do our next action so that you are less likely to fall for them.

The next action to see and do is to: Train in Godliness (6-10)

Paul shows Timothy the importance of teaching on this matter of the enemy constantly trying to get off task, Paul tells him if you tell them this, then you are being a good servant of Christ Jesus. So, be sure that in your flock Timothy, in your congregation that they are not caught up in silly myths and wrong teaching, in their case also useless genealogies. Instead, train yourself (and others) in godliness. Train in this important way so that they (and you) can easily discern what is true and accurate and Christ honoring teaching and devotion to Him against what is false, wicked, and evil. This kind of teaching is worth more to a person than any other training that they can receive in their lifetime, weather it be in the career, in their schooling, or physically. Why? Because those others things are only useful in this life here on earth. But we know, as citizens of heaven who are temporarily living on this world, that our lives are much much more than what see right now. In fact, our Spiritual lives live on forever and ever, while our flesh and the worries of this world are only temporary.

Just think about it, lets say you want to be a world class athlete. Can a person go simply from couch to olympic champion overnight? Of course not! Unless of course if potato chip eating or netflix binge watching is a sport…… Rather, an olympic athlete has to train and change their lives for many years so that their body can be in the peak shape to compete on such high a level. If I, having not ran in quite some time, were to race with those that have trained and equipped themselves in such a way as to be an olympic competitor, then we would even so far as the starting line. I would only see the back of their shoes and their dust as I huffed and puffed within the first few meters. If only I had trained, I could of kept up and known the feeling they were having in that moment in the race and at the finish line.

Paul writes that while training the body is all well and good, even better is the training in godliness. How then does one train in godliness? Well, it’s all got to do with your relationship with Christ, how much you are investing in it. Are you investing in it? Or were you hoping to go from couch to olympic champion overnight like in my story? This kind of training, like all other training, takes time and requires commitment. No one starts out good or even ok at it, but it gets easier and it gets better every time. So, what then are the exercise you need to do as you train in godliness. Here are a few that are all required for a good rounded christian: Church attendance, gathering with believers in worship and teaching; bible reading and meditating (thinking on) God’s word; prayer which is perhaps the most central ingredient; evangelism, being a disciple who makes disciples; giving of your time, tithes, and offerings to kingdom business and I could go on and on. Each one of these start out hard, they do for everyone; myself included. But, as you grow from baby, to toddler, to child, to adolescent, to adult in your spiritual walk, it gets more doable (or rather, what is expected of you increases and the struggles of the past become small points of issue if they are at all). So, train yourself in Godliness, because as as the old saying goes, An ounce in prevention is worth a pound of cure. And Satan wants to deceive you, The enemy wants you to not have Christ and His mission as the “main thing.” So, train in Godliness so that you can better keep Christ and His mission as the main thing for both yourself and your church body.

Another action to see and do is to: Pay close attention (11-16)

Paul makes it clear to Timothy, you are to teach on these things, that we are to train in Godliness. Just because you are young, most scholars believe Timothy was in his mid thirties at the time of this letter, don’t let the congregants despise or ignore you. Instead, set the example for them as this church’s leader. In the meantime pastor Timothy, be sure to give your attention to publicly reading the scriptures, prayers, and to teaching. Don’t neglect the pastoral gift and calling that was given to you and affirmed by the elders. Keep it up, don’t neglect your gifts and calling, let others see you grow in it. Pay close attention pastor to your life and teaching, that you will lead your congregation well in their lives and what they learn and put into action about Christ. As you do this, your love and affection for Christ will grow and grow and be caught by others, who will do what? They will fulfill our mission as believers, to love God, love others, and make disciples. This is necessary and needed, because people only become saved once they have heard and respond to the truth that Jesus saves.

Have you ever caught yourself not paying attention or being off task. If you have ever been in a classroom both as a teacher or as a student, I’m sure you have seen (or taken part in) your fair share of it. When the teacher is teaching, you know that this is what you are supposed to be paying attention to, but even the best of students can find themselves off task if they have a window seat on a nice sunny day or if your best friend sneaks in something really distracting like cell phone or toy.

Even with that distraction and deception trying to your attention believer, you are called to pay close attention to your relationship with Christ and where Satan is trying to get you off of task and mission,, just as pastor are called to do the same and to pay close attention to you and your spiritual development. Pay close attention believer, always be on guard. Know that the enemy is all around you, sometimes, scratch that often times hiding in the places you thought were safe. So always be on diligent guard, often check your heart, and ask if your heart and your will is within God’s will. Again, I can’t tell you the particulars in all situations, but I can clue you in that it always has something to do with: Loving God, Loving Others, and Making Disciples. This is your constant lifetime endeavor believer, so pay close attention because The enemy wants you to not have Christ and His mission as the “main thing.” So pay close attention so that Christ will remain the main thing.

Conclusion

Beloved, this are commands that believers of all stages and walks of life are to do. We are Know The Enemy, that he is trying to deceive you and get you off of task. So, to combat this we are to Train in Godliness so that you both prevent and have to relationship with Christ to combat Satan’s deception. These attacks happen often, so we have to Pay close attention to the spiritual warfare we are in and if we are training well. Because we don’t want anything glorified other than or more than Christ. The enemy doesn’t want this, so do all that you can to keep Christ the main thing in every endeavor you begin and end in your life.

With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

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